Cleveland wrote:
Hey Smiley, any chance of the who'se online bit going back on the main homepage now? 
Yep. I'm having to re-write the blooming staff policies again. THey were about to go live before the crash and of course cos I forgot to back up the database.. I'm having to re-write it all again!
Oh well, I learnt my lesson. I back up twice a day now. Once in the morning, once in the evening.
All planned improvements are in progress and will be switched on simultaneously.
Including the FC Council, Member of the Month Awards, the Articles section I've been promising, Echo has volunteered to do the live quizzes so as soon as the quiz page is up we'll get them rolling, devolving control of the forums back to regular members like we used to do (ie: Hedwig was in charge of MOTM forum I believe? Lucky in charge of Dream Interpretations etc). I'm working with a programmer on the arcade (the crash happened after I installed the arcade, which leads me to believe that's where the bug lays. So the programmer is sifting through the code checking it from top to bottom and plugging the holes for me), then we're going to take on our 2 new staff members that we have already agreed upon in our canteen as I swap around the site pages and re-write the rules/TOS/FC Constitution to allow guests back in.
There's also going to be a new, improved staffing system which will be kept private between us for now. But once implemented all staff policies and procedures will be available to the public on the "Our Staff" section as I believe a democratic community should be transparent and members of the community should know their rights and the standards staff members should be at - including myself - the new constitution which will centre heavily around the FC Members Council (a volunteer body of regular users who act as ambassadors of the general community to management) - will limit any form of dictatorship full stop.
Of course, I will decide on the basic Code of Conduct to adhere to our basic principles of being a friendly adult community where cliques and perverts do not belong. But any rules that are missing and the majority of members believe should be implemented, will be proposed to the members council, who will in turn argue their case to management, who will in turn vote on it.
And it works the other way around. If we (management) suddenly implement a new rule that the majority of members disagree with, the FC Members Council has the right to veto it, and it'll be us (management) that will have to argue our case of why we believe the new rule should stand. And then the FC Council will vote on it and must agree for it to pass.
The constitution will be public, and I will be prohibited from amending it to suit myself. Any amendments must be unanimously agreed upon by all Hosts and the FC Members Council.
We are going to turn this site upside down, inject the fun and the sense of community ownership back into the site and make it YOUR friendly e-Community again.
It's time I took my thumb out and rebuilt our community. I admit I lost my passion after a nameless partner tried to sabotage and destroy us. But when I log into FC, and see how grateful new users are to find an adult site they can chat in without being bombarded with sex and ASL. And when I login to see the loyalty of regulars who come back no matter the foul-ups I've done, and the loyalty of my staff who carry on keeping the community alive despite me losing my passion, and the amount of PM's I've gotten recently of support and genuine concern of my well-being by people I least expected to be concerned.
Well. You're my members of our community. This is not my community, it's ours. And I've been very selfish lately in not maintaining, developing and improving it to the standards you all came to love it for originally.
Well I hereby promise you'll see a new me from now on. I'm the leader of the community, and I should be setting an example. But I am no dictator. So just give me a couple of weeks to work on the various fixes, bugs, features and literature I'm currently working on - and you'll get your community back.
Fun. Banter. Simplicity. Democracy. Transparency. Fair but firm staffing. A better looked after, respected and re-trained Visitor Support team and bigger involvement in site affairs by our regular members.
A community you will feel a part of, because it's a community you will have helped to build and have a genuine say in.
We're even going to have an anonymous confessions page (those of you who are old enough to remember Good Chat will remember the confessions). But it will be integrated and site-orientated. IP addresses will be blocked. On this anonymous confessions page all suggestions, criticisms and complaints will be free-for-all no holds barred. It's the only way we can improve with honest opinions.
I don't want anyone to be afraid to criticise anything. Just give me a few weeks to get the new system in place. And then any complaints or criticisms will HAVE to be taken seriously as you'll have your FC Members Council & Members Union open to valued, regular members.
Whereas on other sites, and recently even on FC, if you send in a complaint I'll be honest it's mostly ignored as it gets lost in the dozens of emails we receive each day. With the council working side-by-side along-side management and with 100% transparency - you will have your voice heard.
So not only is it going to be super fun, unique - but also it will be genuinely efficient and beneficial to both you, the members, and we the management. Because you get to be part of the community, rather than a user of the community. And we get to hear honest opinions so we can improve and build on those opinions, and the voting system setup around the FC Members Council means everybody will be happy.
A fellow web developer once told me "you can't please all the people all the time". I'm going to prove him wrong. I believe if you give your members the respect, the trust and a unique setup of transparent democracy you CAN please all the members all the time. Cos a democratic vote will be honoured either way, and if a vote is split or indecisive, then that's when compromise comes in to play.
Soon I will want volunteers for the following:
FC Council Chief (the position lasts for 3 months before being passed on to another regular user). The Chief gets to choose 2 fellow regs to be his or her council reps.
Forum moderators. First come first serve. Pick and choose the forum you'd like to moderate. If you have an idea for a new forum that you feel we should have, just say so.
Member of the Month Awards presenter.
Backup quizmasters/mistresses for days Echo isn't available, or if you'd like to run additional quizzes.
FC Community Ambassadors. For those of you who wish to become staff, this would be a good way to earn brownie points during the times we aren't hiring, or for regs who don't have the time to be staff but would still like to contribute. A Community Ambassador would be a regular user whose duty it is to set an example to other regs. By meeting and greeting every single new user to the community and pointing them in the right direction if they need help with anything, and by making them feel welcome and integrate. This will be a very helpful and important role for times when official staff aren't available. You'll also have the additional duty to set a good example on other forums/chats you use, and drop a link to FC (without spamming). Ie: Ask other board/chat owners if they would like to exchange links with FC, or invite friends from other sites to visit us.
Article writers. People with a talent for writing advice columns, or political rants and ravings, and particularly - we'll be looking for an agony aunt!
An FC Jury. One thing we hate doing at FC is banning people. Especially when it comes to permanent bans (known amongst staff as BOS). We would want 5 volunteers of good character and of an unbiased nature. Part of the duty of the fC Council is to let management know their concerns of a particularly disruptive user who they feel should be removed from the community. It will be up to the FC Council to provide sufficient grounds/support from the general populace of the community for the permanent banning of such a user. Then it'll be up to the jury. Of course the offender in question will have the right to state their side of the story, and may even promise to adjust their behaviour in the future. Of course this will only be used in extreme methods. BOS is reserved mostly for perverts or people who breach the law, or repeatedly breach our TOS (ie: is banned regularly for disrupting the room). This system will replace the 'vote to kick' system as ChatBlazer hasn't quite gotten that right yet.
So heck even the decision to put someone on BOS will become democratic and fun in the process. As in the past we've been criticized and had fall outs with people over who has been and has not been put on BOS.
This community is going to be the most fun, dynamic, unique and exciting adult community out there within a few months.
It's going to take a lot of work on my behalf, but with you lot motivating me so much lately, it can all be done.
How does all this sound to you? You certainly can't accuse me of not caring about you or your opinions in the future that's for sure. You'll be basically running the show. Think of me as the Queen in the future. Head of State, but here simply to make sure the democratic system isn't corrupted and to wave to my valued members.
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yes embarrassed to admit I'm not a tech geek 
